Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/109500
B I G T E N R A N K I N G S RIVALS SCOUT G&W REPORT ESPN 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Ohio State Michigan Nebraska Michigan State Penn State 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Ohio State Michigan Nebraska Wisconsin Illinois 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Ohio State Michigan Nebraska Penn State Michigan State 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Ohio State Michigan Nebraska Penn State Wisconsin 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Indiana Illinois Iowa Northwestern Purdue Wisconsin Minnesota 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Michigan State Penn State Northwestern Indiana Iowa Purdue Minnesota 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Illinois Indiana Northwestern Iowa Wisconsin Purdue Minnesota 6. 7. 8. 9. Michigan State Indiana Illinois Purdue as the league���s dominant programs ��� at least on the recruiting front. Last year Ohio State landed the fourth-best class in the country according to Rivals.com. Of the 25 players the Buckeyes recruited, 16 were either four- or five-star recruits. The Buckeyes were every bit as successful this year, finishing with the fourth-best overall class in the country according to Rivals and the No. 1 class in the Big Ten. Fifteen of the Buckeyes��� 23 recruits have received either four or five stars from Rivals. Ohio State���s five-star recruit is linebacker Mike Mitchell of Plano, Texas, while its top four-star recruits are defensive back Cameron Burrows of Trotwood, Ohio; defensive end Joey Bosa of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; running back Ezekiel Elliott of St. Louis, Mo.; athlete Jalin Marshall of Middletown, Ohio; and defensive back Eli Apple of Voorhees, N.J. All have a 6.0 four-star rating from Rivals. Ohio State once again did an outstanding job of recruiting its home state. Of the 10 Ohio prospects in the Buckeyes��� class, five are consensus four-star players, with Burrows and 10. Northwestern 11. Iowa 12. Minnesota Marshall topping the list with their 6.0 ranking. Ohio State has traditionally done well in its home state, but Meyer has changed the school���s approach to recruiting in one significant respect: The scope is now much broader. This year���s class features recruits from 12 states, including California, Florida, Georgia, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina and Missouri. And already, Meyer has extended verbal offers to six prospects in Georgia for the Class of 2014. And then there���s Michigan. Last year the Wolverines��� class was ranked seventh nationally. It featured two fivestar recruits: offensive lineman Kyle Kalis of Lakewood, Ohio, and defensive lineman Ondre Pipkins of Kansas City, Mo. Many recruiting analysts said Michigan recruited the best offensive line class in the country. This year���s class is almost an exact duplicate of last year���s. It has 27 members, including one five-star recruit: running back Derrick Green of Richmond, Va., who is rated by Rivals as the No. 1 running back prospect in the country. The consensus nationally is that Hoke recruited the No. 1 offensive line class in the nation. That group consists of seven prospects, five of whom have achieved four-star status: Kyle Bosch of Wheaton, Ill.; David Dawson of Detroit; Chris Fox of Parker, Colo.; Patrick Kugler of Wexford, Pa.; and Logan Tuley-Tillman of Peoria, Ill. As for the rest of the Big Ten, Nebraska and Illinois are the only two schools that finished above expectations. The Cornhuskers��� 24-member class is ranked 14th nationally by Rivals. It features five four-star recruits, including running back Terrell Newby of West Hills, Calif., and linebacker Marcus Newby of North Potomac, Md. The Fighting Illini are tied with Oregon State at No. 36 in the country. The fact that Illinois ended up with one of the top five recruiting classes in the Big Ten is surprising, but it is also indicative of the league���s malaise. The class consists of 26 players, but only two of them are four-star prospects: quarterback Aaron Bailey of Bolingbrook, Ill., and athlete Caleb Day of Hillard, Ohio. Among Big Ten schools, Penn State had the most challenging year, for obvious reasons. Rivals ranks the Nittany Lions��� class 40th-best in the country. It���s led by five-star quarterback Christian Hackenberg of Fork Union, Va., and four-star recruits Adam Breneman of Camp Hill, Pa.; Brendan Mahon of Randolph, N.J.; and Garrett Sickels of Little Silver, N.J. The best word to describe the rest of the conference���s recruiting is disappointing. Rivals has Michigan State���s class ranked No. 35, while Wisconsin (No. 47), Northwestern (No. 49), Indiana (No. 50), Iowa (No. 56), Purdue (No. 58) and Minnesota (No. 68) fared even worse. One major concern for the Big Ten is the imbalance that is developing between the haves and have-nots. Subtract Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska and Penn State, and the league signed only 14 four-star recruits. That���s 16 fewer than Ohio State and Michigan signed by themselves. Given results like that, it���s easy to see why the Buckeyes and Wolverines think they���re poised to rule the Big Ten once again.